by JP Vasha
Lover’s
Soul
By J. P. Vasha
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
LOVER'S SOUL
First edition. October 31, 2016.
Copyright © 2016 JP Vasha.
Written by JP Vasha.
Also by JP Vasha
Biwole Wolves
Mate Season
Lover's Soul (Coming Soon)
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Also By JP Vasha
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty Nine
SEQUEL
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Further Reading: Mate Season
Also By JP Vasha
About the Author
Prologue
The darkness had become familiar. It shouldn't have surprised me, since I'd been here – wherever or whatever here was – for, like, so long. The fact that I was feeling comfy with the darkness only now said a lot about how I felt in general about this place... if this void I was floating in could even be called a place.
I'd decided to simply call it the void, seeing as there was no ground, no ceiling, no walls, no air, no actual plain that could give me a hint as to what the hell this void was. Nothing was here except me, although even I wasn't exactly tangible myself. See, while my thoughts were intact and I knew I was human, or at least had been a human once, I had no body, no hands or legs or even a head. All I had was eyes, or at least some sort of a sight sense, because I could see the darkness, watch it encompass me entirely for eternity, probably.
Since I was always the look-on-the-bright-side-of-life type of woman, I wasn't all too upset with my situation. For instance, I wasn't completely alone. While I was disembodied, a soul wandering around, I believed, there were others like me. I brushed against other souls, even talked to some lengthly. But there was one thing that differentiated me from them; while we were all able to somehow speak to each other, using some sort of mouth in our disfigured soul, they didn't remember a thing from the life they had, didn't even know exactly what they were or why they were here in the void.
I, on the other hand, remembered everything. I remembered my name – Carla – and I remembered my past, my family, my life up until the moment I was shot in a public massacre at my hometown of Amarillo, Texas. One moment I was watching a madman's face shooting everywhere, people screaming in the background, and the next I was here, hearing nothing, and alone.
It took me some time to understand I was dead, or even to come to terms with it. At first I was sad and angry. Then I mourned myself. And finally, I moved on. Because, seriously, what else could I do? I was stuck in this place for eternity. I had to forgive in order to keep existing, or whatever it was I was doing.
Before my death, I'd never thought deeply about what came after an individual's life come to an end. As I'd already mentioned, I was a glass-half-full kind of person, so questions such as this weren't really of any interest to me. But now, that I was in the void, I couldn't help but ponder it. Was it the true version of Hell? Heaven it couldn't be, because heaven should've been bright and have lovely greenery and flowers, right? Or maybe it was neither, simply a space to put in all the souls of the insignificant people. Because, as much as I hate to admit, I had been insignificant when I was alive. I'd never done anything bad. I'd never stood out in school. I'd always obeyed the rules. I'd been a good kid. I'd been on my way to achieve a glorious career as the secretary of an accountant company. Then I'd died when I went to grab a cup of coffee from Starbucks.
Insignificant. Invisible. That's who I was. But I'd never looked at it like that when I lived that life. I always thought myself lucky, that a girl without real talents found a way to have at least some aim in life. I'd never wanted anything more, anything glamorous. I'd just wanted to live my life to the fullest of my abilities – of what I believed was the extent of those limited abilities.
Now I knew differently. Maybe it was because of this dark void that my view on life change. Maybe it was because I was dead that I realized that I'd never been alive before, that I'd let myself disregard my life so completely that I'd refused to live a little. Well, it was too late now. I was dead. Life was only a faraway dream. I was just a soul roaming in a realm of nothingness and darkness among other souls.
Okay, enough with the grimness. I needed to find some soul to talk to, because that way my thoughts wouldn't wander to the dark places they so easily could in this void. So I gathered my spiritual self and floated through the darkness.
It took me some time before I brushed against another soul. "Hey there," I said immediately, afraid to let this soul go.
The soul hesitantly paused next to me. It sounded cautious when it responded with a soft, "Hey."
Its cautiousness didn't mean it was unfriendly. I held on to that and introduced myself. "I'm Carla."
Thankfully, the soul decided to stick around for now. "Khloe," it – she – said. "It's been a while since someone tried to speak t me."
"Well, I'm always glad to meet new people," I said cheerily now that Khloe was humoring me with a chit-chat. "It's getting really lonely really quick in here. Anyway," I changed the subject quickly, "why did you name yourself Khloe?" After all, it couldn't be her actual human name. Many of the souls I'd encountered renamed themselves since they couldn't remember anything. I'd already grown accustomed to the fact I was different.
Khloe didn't speak for a couple of minutes. I would've thought she was trying to ignore me had she not suddenly said, "My true name is Khloe. The name from when I was actually alive."
To say I was startled would be an understatement. "Alive?" I repeated, just to make sure I didn't hallucinate when she said that. Because I'd met thousands of souls in the void, and none of the, had any idea that they had actually had life once.
"Yeah," Khloe murmured, "what, you don't know anything?"
Her voice held a scoffing undertone that pricked at me a little. I didn't like haughtiness both when I'd been alive and now that I was dead. I believed all people were equal, and no one should feel like they're better than the others. Still, while her tone irked me, I'd only spoken with a few words. I couldn't judge her just yet. "Actually, I do," I said quietly, "I know we're in the afterlife void... or whatever this place really is. I remember my entire life up until the point I died. I'm surprised you know about all this too, though," I sighed. "I've met many people here, and no one knew what they were doing here. That you do is a refreshing change."
"Well, since I haven't really spent time talking to others much like you did, I wouldn't know," she said, again with that scoff that stroke a nerve. "I find the...
people here very boring. You're the first one who actually makes me want to talk." She sounded slightly surprised about that last notion.
I guess I should've been flattered that I was interesting enough for her, but I wasn't. Something about Khloe rubbed me the wrong way the longer we chatted. I couldn't put my figurative finger on what, exactly, was the reason for that nagging feeling, and it annoyed me a little. I wasn't one to judge a person – soul or not – so quickly, and I surely wasn't the type of woman who got irritated about slight things regarding another person. So to say I was feeling a little lost with myself at that moment would sum it all up in the best way.
Shaking my figurative head, I said chirpily, "Let's keep on talking, then. It's a great pastime."
She snorted. I didn't know souls could snort before. "We have an eternity," she said flatly, "even if we talk now, we'll still have an endless existence to fill in."
My dislike toward Khloe deepened. There was nothing more depressing than pessimism, and she had plenty. I'd always made sure to stay away from people like here when I was alive, because they were a seriously party-pooper and always made me feel like my place in the world was only temporary and very meaningless. Of course, it didn't mean they'd been wrong – but seriously, what was the point in life if not thinking about life itself? No one alive should even ponder the aspect of death, since it only brought gloom. So what if everyone dies in the end? So what if there's an end to life? What people needed to do was keep on living and focus on the now.
"Eternity is a really long time, I agree," I said, trying to still sound cheery even though I was anything but, thanks to her, "but you can still have fun throughout it. Talking to other people, like we're doing now. Maybe try to roam this place and find an exit, even if there isn't one. Find a purpose. And so on."
"You don't understand where you are, then," she said, annoyed, "there isn't any purpose to be found here. This place was meant to be a gathering of all the people no one in the stupid afterlife wanted. We're just leftovers. Unimportant. Disposable."
For the life of me I couldn't get over the fact she was so goddamn Emo. I was about to give her a severe talking to, at least to try and give her some hope so it wouldn't be such a pain chatting with her, when sudden silence fell on the void. There wasn't much sound in here at the first place, but there was always a fainted buzz of the other souls, or just a natural buzz because no place could be so quiet. But now... now there was no sound at all. No buzz, no nothing.
Khloe realized that too and kept her mouth shut. It felt like we should wait, so we waited silently for whatever it was that caused this silence. Since I came here, I'd never encountered something like that. And I'd been here for a while now. I would've known if there was a patrol or something like that. Khloe, too, was as surprised as I was, judging by her stillness.
I was beginning to lose patience when all of a sudden, up above, light appeared. I'm not kidding; there was actually light in this black void. It looked like someone pried open the sky of this place and through the tear white light entered. It didn't feel like anything, not hot or cold, just a sheer brightness that threatened to blind me.
Then a male voice echoed through the void. A voice that said one name.
"Khloe... Khloe Daniels..."
Khloe gasped. "That's me," she whispered, shocked. "This... this thing is calling me..."
A sudden, clear thought passed through my mind. It was gone before I grasped it, though, but I could still remember part of it, and that part told me that, whatever the light was, it was our only way out. It wouldn't happen again anytime soon. "Come on, Khloe," I said, nudging her. "Let's go there."
"Don't leave me," she whispered, suddenly terrified. She was no longer haughty and know-it-all when she was terrified. "Please, Carla, don't leave me."
"I'm right here," I said, exhilaration thundering through me. "I won't leave you. We'll do this together."
"O-Okay," she mumbled.
Not letting her rethink the entire thing, I shot forward, grabbing her soul with mine, and, if I had to compare it to a human body, I guessed I was currently swimming toward the light with Khloe curled around me in sheer terror. I wasn't afraid, though. Some part of me knew what was going on, that it was my ticket out of this place, and I was known for trusting my instincts.
A few moments later, we reached the light, and before neither of us could do anything, we were sucked into an unseen pipeline and then the light took over the both of us, and we fell into a kinder void.
But the void, this time, didn't remain. I found myself opening my eyes, expecting to see the surrounding, heavy darkness that I'd already become familiar with, but instead I saw a different kind of darkness. I saw a sky. A night sky of midnight blue filled with shining, sparkling silver stars. I could even identify the patterns of the Big Bear, and recognized Sirius, the dog star.
There was a night sky above me. I could actually see it. And when I felt prickling all over my body, I found that I wasn't a soul anymore. Oh no, I was something else entirely.
I had hands. I had legs. I had a head. I had a body. I wasn't some spiritual figure anymore. No, I was alive. My heart was beating. I could feel it beating from beneath the skin of my chest. I was alive. I was completely alive.
But where was Khloe?
I'm right here, she said a moment after the question arose in my mind. I'm trapped. You're in charge of this body.
And I knew at that moment that something went horribly wrong. Because no body should hold two souls within. That was wrong, completely wrong. It was unnatural. It was just wrong.
When a animalistic whimper echoed in my mind, I tensed, and felt Khloe's wonder and anxiety. "It wasn't me," she whispered, "there's someone... something else in here."
Another yelp that couldn't belong to a human echoed, and the realization dawned on me like a bucket of cold water. "It's a wolf," I whispered, shocked, "this body belongs to a werewolf. I've never been a werewolf before. I'd been a human!"
Khloe said nothing for a few moments. Then – "I was a werewolf. I recognize this wolf. She's mine. She's me. I have no idea how our soul split like that. It shouldn't have happened. We're one. We're not meant to split apart!"
Something didn't just go horribly wrong. It went catastrophically wrong. Because if the wolf belonged to Khloe, if it was Khloe, and I was here as well...
There were three diverted souls in one body, and I was somewhat chosen to hold the reins.
I wasn't a dirty-mouthed woman, so when I curse, it actually means something. And right now, a curse was in order.
Because we were fucked.
Chapter One
February, 2015
Houston, Texas
The diner was full of people at this time of the day. It wasn't surprising; during the rush hour, many people stopped on their way home to grab a bite in the roadside diner. It was the time of the day we had a serious peak and got fat tips.
Right now, I was having my break from the turmoil. I leaned against the counter in the kitchens and sipped my favorite brand of grape-juice. Jermey, my hosting body's father, was the founder of the "Dance with the Daniels" Diner, and he was also the so-called chef. Currently he was a grilling some steak that smelt delicious, too busy to notice me standing there.
He's always like that, a familiar gloomy voice murmured in my mind. Always too busy to ever notice me. No wonder I ended up killing myself.
I sighed aloud. Khloe and I had been sharing her body for five months now. When I – we – first found ourselves alive and in the same body, it took us some time to get over the shock and realize where we were, what we were going to do, and what actually happened to us.
We'd been in a graveyard, lying next to Khloe's grave. With us was Noreen Daniels, Khloe's mother; Candy McFee, Khloe's big sister; and Catie Daniels, Khloe's second big sister. Her father, for some reason, hadn't been in presence.
Noreen had cried when she realized I – we – were awake. She called me Khloe, her precious daughter, and so
did Candy and Catie. It was a no-brainer that they thought me to be their long-dead daughter. They didn't even consider there might've been a malfunction during the resurrection that shoved not one but two souls – or three, if you count the wolf – into Khloe Daniels' body.
Later on, when the mother and the sisters calmed down, they explained that they hired an anonymous man who claimed he could bring people back from the dead. They paid him in advance and were sworn to secrecy – which meant that no one outside of the family knew about it – and they waited outside the graveyard while he worked his magic. They didn't know what his name was or what he looked like – he was anonymous alright – but they did know he was male, since when they spoke over the phone he had a deep voice that indicated his gender.
Anyhow, that mysterious magician somehow revived our souls and here we were, Khloe, her wolf and I in the same body, all thanks to some weird resurrector. Not that I was complaining to be alive – on the contrary, I was ecstatic to be out of the void and be able to breathe normal air again – but having to share a body with Khloe, a body that wasn't even mine... Yeah, you get my gist.
Khloe, I now though chidingly, don't say such horrible stuff. You killed yourself because you believed no one loved you. Well, I guess since your family went through the all the troubles, finding some weirdo who could resurrect you and paying him for it, that it's not really true.
I could hear the girl grimacing. Well, then, why my father wasn't there when I was revived? Why is he ignoring me ever since that day?
Your dad is an oddball himself, I retorted, which was true, at least from what I saw in the past five months. Maybe he just wants life to return to the way they used to be before you committed suicide.
Khloe's scoff in my mind meant the discussion had come to an end. It was her own unique way of ending arguments she knew I would win eventually.
Once I finished drinking my grape-juice, I went to the toilet to get ready for the next few hours of my shift. After I did what I did, I walked to the sink and washed my face. When I looked in the mirror, I saw the girl who'd at first been a stranger, but now was actually me.